CE650 CREW ARRIVING 3A1 RPTS CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH CE550 DEPARTING AT 2600 FT.

Narrative

AT XA40 HUNTSVILLE APCH CLRED US TO DSND FROM 4000 FT TO 3000 FT ALT. THE AWOS AT CULLMAN (3A1) WAS RPTING WINDS 120 DEGS AT 5 KTS; 3000 FT BROKEN WITH VISIBILITY OF 5 MI. WE WERE 10 MI S OF THE CULLMAN ARPT. FO ASKED ME TO MONITOR HUNTSVILLE APCH WHILE HE WENT TO COM #2 TO CONTACT UNICOM AT CULLMAN. HE RPTED OUR POS AND ASKED FOR ARPT ADVISORY. HE WAS TOLD BY UNICOM THAT HE HAD A CITATION THAT WOULD HOLD AT RWY 20 FOR US TO LAND. FO RESPONDED THAT WE WOULD ENTER A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 20. THE VISIBILITY WHILE LOOKING FOR THE ARPT IN THE AFTERNOON SUN AT 3000 FT WAS NO MORE THAN 1 MI. HUNTSVILLE APCH CALLED AND SAID TO DSND AND MAINTAIN 2400 FT AND THAT THE ARPT WAS 12 O'CLOCK POS AND 5 MI; AND TO ADVISE IN SIGHT. KNOWING THAT THE CITATION WAITING DEP WOULD BE ANXIOUS TO LEAVE; I HAD PLANNED ON GETTING ESTABLISHED IN THE TFC PATTERN AT 2400 FT AND HAD PLANNED ON CANCELING OUR IFR WHEN WE HAD THE ARPT; RWY; AND THE DEPARTING CITATION IN SIGHT. SUDDENLY; HUNTSVILLE APCH CALLED AND SAID THEY HAD POP-UP TFC 12 O'CLOCK POS 2 MI; OPPOSITE DIRECTION CLBING OUT OF 2000 FT. WE WERE AT 2600 FT ALT STILL IN A DSCNT AT THAT MOMENT. IMMEDIATELY THE TCAS ANNOUNCED 'TFC; TFC.' I LOOKED AT THE TCAS DISPLAY AND SAW THE SOLID SQUARE (SOLID MEANING A THREAT); AND THAT IT WAS HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARD US IN A CLB. I IMMEDIATELY THROTTLED UP; CLICKED OFF THE AUTOPLT AND STARTED A CLBING R TURN; HOPING THE TFC WOULD LEVEL OUT AND TURN TO THE R. HE DID NEITHER. HE REMAINED FOR AT LEAST 30 SECONDS 300 FT UNDERNEATH US CLBING. AT 4600 FT I NOTICED THAT HE WAS BEHIND US BUT THE TCAS STILL SAID 300 FT BELOW. IN THE MEANTIME; A CITATION CHKED IN ON HUNTSVILLE APCH FREQ AND ASKED FOR AN IFR CLRNC. HUNTSVILLE GAVE HIM A SQUAWK CODE AND TOLD HIM TO REMAIN VFR. ANOTHER ACFT CALLED HUNTSVILLE AT THE TIME AND BLOCKED THE FREQ FOR A MOMENT. AFTER THE FREQ CLRED I ASKED HUNTSVILLE TO TELL ME THE POS OF THE CONFLICTING TFC. THEY TOLD ME HE WAS NOW 3 MI BEHIND AND AT 3000 FT. THEY THEN ASKED IF I WOULD LIKE VECTORS BACK TO CULLMAN ARPT AND I SAID AFFIRMATIVE. THEY TOLD ME TO FLY HDG 270 DEGS AND DSND AND MAINTAIN 3000 FT. I TOLD THEM I WAS LEAVING 4600 FT FOR 3000 FT AS I HAD TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION TO AVOID A COLLISION WITH THE DEPARTING CITATION. HUNTSVILLE APCH THEN CONTINUED MY L TURN; DSNDED ME TO 2400 FT WHEN I GOT THE ARPT IN SIGHT AND WE ENTERED A L DOWNWIND; CANCELED OUR IFR CLRNC AND LANDED SAFELY. I WENT IN THE FBO AND ASKED FOR THE N-NUMBER OF THE DEPARTING CITATION. HE TOLD ME. HE SAID THAT WHEN HE DEPARTED HE RPTED HAVING THE INCOMING CITATION IN SIGHT. THIS LEAVES ME TO SEVERAL QUESTIONS: 1) WHY WOULD YOU DEPART OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS IN THE FACE OF ANY TFC? 2) WHY WOULD YOU DEPART VFR IN IFR CONDITIONS? 3) IF YOU HAVE TFC IN SIGHT; WHY TURN DIRECTLY INTO THEM? I HAD RPTED IN TO CULLMAN UNICOM THAT WE WERE 5 MI S AND WOULD BE ENTERING A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 20 AND SWITCHED BACK TO HUNTSVILLE APCH. WHEN HUNTSVILLE CALLED ALERTING US ABOUT THE TFC; THE TCAS WENT OFF ABOUT THE SAME TIME. AT NO TIME DID EITHER OF US SEE THE OTHER ACFT. WE ONLY HAD THE TCAS SYS FOR INFO AND IT SHOWED 300 FT BELOW US AS WE ABRUPTLY TURNED OUT TO THE E AND STARTED OUR CLB. THE TCAS CONTINUED TO SHOW 300 FT AS WE CLBED UNTIL WE ASKED HUNTSVILLE APCH WHERE THE TFC WAS. I ALSO QUESTION WHY ANYONE WOULD TURN L AFTER TKOF WHEN WE HAD STATED ON UNICOM THAT WE WOULD ENTER A L DOWNWIND OR RWY 20. LOOKING INTO THE SUN LEFT US WITH LIMITED VISIBILITY EVEN THOUGH THE AWOS WAS BROADCASTING 5 MI.